Fashionistas take over St. Petersburg

"The best vacations are the one that involve friends and art! We are having a great time in St Petersburg," posted designer Rohit Gandhi, one half of Delhi's designer duo Rohit and Rahul (Khanna) who seem to be living it up in Russia this past week. Rohit and Rahul are joined by other designers and Fashion folk namely Rohit Bal, Varun Bahl, Kalyani Chawla, Mehr Rampal, Koel Purie, Mozez Singh, Hanut Singh, Malini Murjani and Sanjay Kapur, who all find themselves in Russia for the 40th birthday celebrations of Delhi swain Sanjit Bakshi. And we hear the gang has been doing a lot of sight seeing, museum hopping and of-course partying! One thing is for sure that they have upped the glamour quotient in the beautiful city this week. Move over Russian oligarchs the Indians are here.

Accolades from the PM

After his staggering weight loss was commended by the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Salman Khan, John Abraham and MS Dhoni, Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Nita and Mukesh has recently been complimented by no less than PM Narendra Modi. The scion along with brother Akash and sister Isha, accompanied by a RIL colleague, had an audience with Modi at his official residence over the weekend. And along with talk of this and that the Ambani siblings must have brought the PM up to speed on their current activities: Isha, a graduate of Yale is going in for further studies and has been accepted by both Stanford and Harvard; Akash is steering Jio, the group's ambitious tech rollout and has become something of a workaholic, and Anant whose staggering feat of losing 108 kg in 18 months has captured the imagination of the public is an undergraduate at Brown, is soon becoming an emerging star in his own right.

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Champions of mental health

Sobokers out for their Sunday morning constitutional were in for an unusual sight when Neerjha and Ananya Birla, wife and daughter of Kumar Birla, one of India's most respected businessmen, took to its roads on two wheelers to promote mental health. "Mpower is a mental health initiative that proactively champions mental health causes, creates awareness, advocates prevention and provides services with a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach," says a spokesperson. "The cyclists were flagged off at Nariman Point at 6.30 am by Neerjha and Ananya and covered the approximately 30 km, to the Worli Sea Face via Peddar Road and back with great enthusiasm. About her reason for launching Mpower, Neerjha Birla said, "India faces critical challenges related to mental health. 1 out of 5 Indians need help with mental health issues and 4 out 5 will not seek the help they need due to the stigma they will face." "Why is it that we think it is acceptable for the body to be unwell, but not the mind?" said the soft-spoken corporate wife. "The stigma around mental health creates a hostile environment where people are afraid to acknowledge their disorders, to seek help, or to even advocate advancements in the treatment and care of people with mental disorders." "I believe the first step to eliminating stigma is to initiate dialogue and create awareness about mental health. When people saw the Ride to Mpower team cycling across the city today, I hope it inspired and encouraged everyone to initiate conversations about mental heath conditions with their friends, families and neighbours."

Wedding for a Cause

According to sources, Preity Zinta's official reception to celebrate her recent wedding to Gene Goodenough is being held in early May at the St Regis at Lower Parel. Given that the actress is one Bollywood's sweethearts, much admired for her fearlessness and courage with many friends and admirers across the board, it will undoubtedly be a star-studded affair; in addition, Zinta's role as co-founder of an IPL team will also see a procession of Indian and international cricketers in attendance. And best of all, sources say that Zinta has taken her legendary civic mindedness to a new level. "The wedding is being exclusively covered by a glossy, which has bought coverage rights for a hefty sum which will be donated to the couple's favourite charity," says a source. Using one's clout to promote philanthropy? Nice!

The Girl Next Door?
More on the sale of the iconic heritage bungalow in Bandra, whose asking price is said to be a staggering Rs 200 crore. Sources say that so far there have been four serious enquiries. The scion of a wealthy business clan from Pune had shown interest, but his offer is said to have been a tad underwhelming; a beefy star from the area had a look-see but it did not catch his fancy and neither it is said was the legend who resides in the mansion's neighbouring bungalow interested in expanding. So far that leaves, we are informed, only one other interested party: a leading Bollywood actress who displayed some initial interest in the heritage bungalow; some one who is on the brink of international stardom and can well afford to splurge on a statement abode; above all, we are informed some one who is very interested in the bungalow's vantage location. A case of 'Tere Ghar Ke Samne'?